Diamon: “Mentzinger’s weekly outdoor sports column is a must read”

Here’s what Maine media critic Al Diamon had to say about my weekly winter sports column that appeared in several of the state’s newspapers:

On March 12, 2009, he said:

Real story revealed: Bob Mentzinger’s weekly outdoor sports column “Happy Trails” in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel is a must read for anyone who cares about what’s really going on in the wilds of Maine. The March 11 edition is a particularly good one.

Mentzinger digs deep to explain what’s really happening at the nearly defunct Big Squaw ski resort near Greenville, where the owner recently pulled out of a deal with local economic-development officials to apply for a $200,000 state grant to repair his main chairlift (unused in several years) and improve snowmaking. Mentzinger’s experience and long memory provide much-needed context that was sadly lacking in a March 10 Bangor Daily News article on the same subject by staff writer Diana Bowley.

While Bowley merely reports what everyone involved has to say – the resort owner’s comments make it sound as if government red tape was the major reason he balked – Mentzinger gives enough history to allow readers to glimpse the complex dynamics behind this story – the owner, who’s from Florida, may have bailed out because he didn’t want to reveal who his investors are or what his bottom line looks like.

Taking another run: I’m not saying there’s never any hard-nosed reporting on Maine’s winter sports industry. The collapse of American Skiing Co. was thoroughly covered by several local media outlets. The struggles of smaller ski areas to survive have gotten a little ink and airtime. The sale and revival of Saddleback has been analyzed in detail. And former Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel skiing columnist Bob Mentzinger was, until his departure at the end of last season, a reliable source of unbiased information refreshingly free of filtering ….